Thule 532002 FreeRide Roof Mounted Bike Carrier

I bought this to replace an existing Thule Proride when I bought a new mountain bike with a fatter bottom bracket that wouldn’t fit in the jaws of the clamp. Fitting it was very easy because it slotted straight in where the old one came out on exactly the same mounting brackets. I remember fitting the old Proride was very fiddly because I had to adjust the position of the roof bars to get the brackets of the rack in just the right place so that the wheel straps didn’t conflict. However, this new rack would have been easier because there is only one wheel strap, and it is diagonal, so should be more flexible with positioning. Front mudguards are ok so long as they are short. The arms need to grip the tyre of the front wheel and if a mudguard is in the way won’t hold it without causing damage. The tiny mudguards that most mountain bikers use are fine. I have a mid-sized mudguard which is ok, but only just. If it had been a problem I would have cut an inch or two off the mudguard with a jigsaw and re-shaped the end with a heat gun. Once mounted on the rack the bike feels very secure, much more so than on the old proride where there was always a worry that the frame could slip out of the jaws, (this happened once whilst driving and I still have a deep scratch in the roof of my car where the pedal went into it).. The two swing arms are easily adjusted to the size of your wheel. It takes a couple of minutes to figure out which arm goes where; there’s a label on the rearmost one telling you to raise it first. Once you’ve made sense of that it’s easy to get the first arm in place, lift the bike up, raise the second arm, push it until it goes click, fasten the rear wheel strap and you are good to go. The two arms form a cross-shaped cage around the front wheel, so it can’t slip out. There is no feeling that the bike could come out of the rack. The bike is only going to come away if the forces through the brackets into the roof bars are excessive: that would require a combination of a very heavy bike with some violent driving. Thule recommend sticking to a maximum of 70mph. If you like to drive faster then probably you’d be better off putting the bike inside the car. It is rated up to a maximum of 20kg, which rules out many e-bikes. Anything over that weight would be a struggle to lift up and place on the rack anyway; my e-mountain bike is 18kg which is within my comfort zone, but anyone contemplating getting one of these will want to be sure they can lift and position the bike without risk of dropping it. Locking is interesting: the old proride had a lock on the swing arm which was part of the routine and so got used every time. This one doesn’t have that, instead providing a cable which pulls out of the tail end of the rack, loops around the back wheel and then can be locked. This is an extra thing to do and so far I haven’t bothered with it. This does make you vulnerable to an opportunist thief if you were to leave it unattended for a couple of minutes. The locks on this and the proride are flimsy and wouldn’t stop a determined thief with wire cutters but are better than nothing. In summary, it works well for me and my bike, and I would recommend it. The price is quite high, but it is a good quality product. My old proride was left in place exposed to the elements for years and never showed any sign of deterioration, so I would expect the same from this one.

Having just spent a serious amount of money on a new bike, it was time to upgrade my roof rack. With a carbon frame, it is essential not to compress the bike's downtube, and this roof rack is expressly designed not to do that. The instructions are quite long, which is misleading because the rack is easy to fit to just about any type of roof bar. Once fitted, you get the impression of solidity; this rack is going nowhere. Mounting the bike to the rack is easy. Just position the adjustable arm and tighten the ratchet until it clicks; the bike is secure at the down tube, without any crushing action. The wheel straps are easy to fix, and the bike is secure. Of course, there is a keyed lock too, but I would not leave my bikes out of sight were I to rely just on the lock. If you want to change the lock cylinder, as you might if you have multiple bike racks, you will need a special key to do so. I found the easiest source for this key to be eBay. Also, you can swap the ratchet system to the other side of the rack so that it can be mounted on the other side of the car. In conclusion, this is a high quality product I'm completely happy to use with an expensive bike.

Good quality, easy to install on Thule bars but not as good on other manufacturers bars.

Thule is the first name most people think of when it comes to good quality bike racks. Thule offer 3 models of roofrack; the FreeRide, the ProRide and the OutRide. This is the FreeRide 532, which is the cheapest model in the range. Number of Bikes: 1 Max Weight of Bike: 17kg Max Total Weight: 17kg Max Assembled Weight (minus bikes): 4.4 kg The Thule Freeride 532 is the latest model in the FreeRide range and replaces the Thule FreeRide 530 model. Thule claim to have improved the design as well as the aerodynamics of the the original model. The FreeRide attaches to your roofbars. Attachments secure the bike wheels to the carrier and a dual post attaches to the frame, securing the bike. The Thule FreeRide 532 can be bought in single, double or triple packs, with the triple giving the best value, so look around but I found Amazon to be selling the singles cheaper than the other pack sizes. A few people have stated that the instructions could be better. However, they all found that installation was obvious enough and generally installation is quite simple and painless, and it is. The use of the double arm has proven a bit tricky for installing some bikes and like one of mine there is a 'magic spot' that you meet and it is the only location the bike can be secured at. Speaking of the double arm, if you have a tall car, like an MPV; or if you are of shorter stature, then you should be aware that the lock that secures the bike to the carrier is at the top of the arm, so you may have a stretch. I do a little bit with my Skoda Octavia Mk3 but it's not bad. One good thing about the FreeRide is that it can be fitted to either the left or the right side of the car, by changing some components around. This is a big plus, so well done Thule. Build quality is what you would expect from Thule, but some bits are plastic. Having the lock up at the top of the bar has its good points and bad points. This is the securest place for it, in order to stop potential thieves removing your bike from the frame. However, it does make it harder to fix the bike to the car, especially if you have a tall car. Thule have obviously weighed up both sides of the coin and the ProRide 591 has gone the other way, with the lock at the bottom. This gives consumers the choice as to which is more important to them – ease of installation, or security. As this is a subjective choice and as Thule have obviously thought about it, I’m not going to mark down the rack because of that. The bike is attached to the carrier at the wheels by use of a ratchet strap. this makes it very easy to secure it, but if you have quick release wheels (particularly expensive ones) then it means that it is possible for a would-be thief to remove the wheel, without taking the bike. This is easily solvable though, by using a spare cable lock to lock the wheel to the bike – something that I would advise for any cycle rack. The racks themselves are of a nice slim profile and the biggest aerodynamic drag will come from your bike anyway. Removal of the rack is simple enough when you are not transporting a bike and the racks are slim and straight enough for storage to be easy. They are a bit too long to store in most cars though, so you would have to leave them at home/wherever you are staying. REVIEW SUMMARY: This is a quality bike rack at a reasonable price. You need to take care if you own a tall car and also make sure you lock your wheels up if you ride with expensive wheels, but other than that I would highly recommend this piece of kit. #NOTE# it comes with 2 locks/keys - you can order these up separately through suppliers to match your existing roof rack keys, the range is from 001-200 and N001-N200. Thule also sell large packs, 4,6,8, 12 etc of the same locks and keys so you only need 1 key to unlock the full set up.

Portabicicletas muy bien construido (materiales) y muy bien diseñado a un precio muy bueno. Mi coche es bajito y es muy fácil colocar las bicicletas en el soporte (si tu coche es de techo alto como un todocamino o furgoneta la cosa no es tan fácil). Si llevas varias bicicletas puedes alternar hacia adelante y hacia atrás los soportes para que los manillares no choquen entre sí, además puedes colocar la llave de seguridad del soporte y de la bicicleta hacia el lado que tú quieras (en tres minutos la cambias de lado). También se adapta a cuadros de muchos tamaños, aunque hay que cambiar de posición la pinza de cierre y la pieza de goma (en tres minutos cambias la posición y la pieza de goma) para evitar que se estropee el cuadro (lleva dos de dos tamaños distintos). De esta manera la bicicleta queda fantásticamente bien sujeta. Una vez regulado el portabicis a tu bicicleta te olvidas de estos pequeños inconvenientes, que por otra parte pueden ser una ventaja si tienes que transportar la bici de un amigo. Como pegas están las instrucciones de montaje que son poco claras y la pieza trasera de sujeción del portabicis a la baca del coche que va suelta y al desmontar el portabicis puede caerse al suelo... o a tu pie si no tienes cuidado.

.... dachte ich, denn ich dachte immer an früher, als das alles noch eine sehr wackelige Angelegenheit war, wenn mein Papa 4 Räder aufs Rad schnallte. Aber nun gut, irgendwie müssen unsere Esel mit, wenn es in den Urlaub geht. Warum habe ich mich für diesen Träger entschieden? - Ich habe bisher mit den Thule Produkten stets gute Erfahrungen sammeln können - Ich benötige einen Ständer, bei dem das Vorderrad am Bike bleiben kann. Ich hätte keine Lust, wegen des Transports das Vorderrad abzunehmen - Den Träger benötigte ich, weil ich hinten auf dr Anhängerkupplung bereits drei Räder transportiere, aber kein viertes mehr mitnehmen kann. Was finde ich an dem Träger gut? - Es ist schmal. Und das ist für mich wichtig, denn: neben den drei Rändrn auf der Anhängerkupplung habe ich auch noch eine Dachbox oben drauf. Und da sollte der Träger schmal sein, sonst passt es halt nicht! - Ich habe zwei linke Hände und auch keine Lust, mich mit dem Aufbau von irgendwelchen Dingen zu beschäftigen. Daher war ich froh, dass das Gerät innerhalb weniger Minuten auf dem Auto war. Die Anleitung ist super, und dann ging es ratz fatz. - Das Handling ist toll. Ihr könnt euch ja mal ein youtube Video ansehen oder auf der Thule Seite. Das Rad dort oben zu montieren ist super einfach. Besser geht es nicht. - Der Träger ist nach meinem Dafürhalten sehr stabil gebaut. Und wegen meiner mehrjährigen Erfahrung mit Thule Geräten habe ich den Punkt Qualität/Haltbarkeit mit 5 Sternen bewertet. Was finde ich sonst noch gut? - Die Unterstützugn von Thule. Ich habe mittlerweile diverse Fragen an das Unternehmen zu unterschiedlichen Themen geschickt, und jedes Mal hat man mir sehr freundlich und innrhalb kurzer Zeit weiterhelfen können. Was muss man wissen? Wenn man Dinge von Thule kauft, haben die alle eigene Schlösser. Wir haben jetzt schon 5 Schlüssel (oder sind es schon sechs?), und das ist schon ne Menge. Wenn man die nicht deutlich kennzeichnet, muss man halt manchmal etwas suchen, wenn man den richtigen gefunden hat. Thule kann aber für Abhilfe sorgen, indem man das One Key System kauft. Dann hat man einen Schlüssel für eine beliebige Zahl an Schlössern. Der Haken: das kostet Geld, und nach meinem Dafürhalten auch nicht wenig. Also ich bin mit dem Produkt total zufrieden und ich kann es nur jedem empfehlen, der sein Rad auf dem Dach transportieren möchte!

Portabicicletas de buena calidad. La bici de montaña va bien fija sin hacer sufrir el cuadro, no hay que apretarlo en exceso. Se monta fácil y rápido sobre la baca. Con las ventajas e inconvenientes de transportarla en el techo. A mi me soluciona perfectamente. Muy recomendable

It fitted well but haven't had time to test it yet.

İndirimde diye aldım. Ön tekerden tutuyor diye endişelenmiştim ama endişelenecek bir durum yokmuş sadece alışmam gerekti. Bisikleti hızlıca takıp alabiliyorsunuz. Ben yol bisikletinde kullanıyorum sorun yaşamadım. Bu bisikletliği kullanırken teker ölçüsü ayarına ve ön tekeri kilitlerken klik sesine dikkat etmek lazım. Ek olarak klips sesini duymak için bazen fazla güç gerekiyor o zaman wd40 silikon spreyle ufak bir yağlama yetiyor. O da uzun zaman gidiyor